(Reuters) — Monsanto officials say that continued extensive testing of U.S. soft white wheat supplies shows that the presence of the company’s unapproved, experimental genetically altered wheat in an Oregon wheat field is highly suspicious and was an isolated incident that could not have happened through normal farming practices.
“What happened in this field… is suspicious,” said Monsanto chief technology officer Robb Fraley in a conference call with reporters.
Fraley said the evidence indicates someone intentionally introduced the biotech wheat seed into the Oregon field.
Monsanto said testing it had conducted, in addition to testing conducted by Washington State University, found no sign of contaminated wheat outside that one field.
The sampling represents over 97 percent of Oregon wheat acres.
“The grain is clean,” Fraley said.
